A’s, Angels — look elsewhere for your offensive fireworks

If you like low-scoring games, the Coliseum is your place to be through Wednesday. The Angels and A’s rank 13th and 14th, respectively, in the 14-team American League in runs scored. True to form, the A’s pulled out a 2-1 victory in Monday’s series opener, with the teams combining for just 11 hits.

Some postgame tidbits that didn’t make my game story:

–The Angels stacked their lineup with nine right-handed hitters against lefty Tommy Milone, and that suited Milone just fine. “I actually feel more comfortable with right-handers,” Milone said. He feels really good spotting his fastball to the outside corner for strikes against righties. “I’m usually throwing (the fastball) away, and getting ahead is important.”

–I wouldn’t call Milone cocky, but he certainly doesn’t lack confidence either, which is probably important for a guy who doesn’t possess dominant high-velocity stuff. He notched his sixth win Monday to move into a tie for the A.L. wins lead with some pretty good company: Yu Darvish, David Price, Jered Weaver, James Shields and Derek Lowe. How does that grab him? “It’s pretty cool,” Milone said. “It’s not something I’d say I wouldn’t expect. I always go out there trying to win every game. But the goal is just to keep the team in the game, and I feel for the most part I’ve been able to do that.”

–The A’s went five consecutive games without a stolen base before swiping two Monday. They lead the A.L. with 40 steals, and Jemile Weeks is the individual league leader with 10. That last part is a bit surprising to me just because Weeks is having a rough offensive season overall (.290 on-base percentage). But you can’t be disappointed with the work he’s doing once he gets on the bases.

–Interesting reading here on former A’s second baseman Mark Ellis, who has been a huge boost to the Dodgers but will now miss six weeks after having emergency leg surgery.